Following the death of a loved one or pet, many people like to honor or remember the deceased with a memorial. A common method is to mark a burial site with a tombstone, also known as a memorial marker, a grave marker, or a headstone, where loved ones can visit for remembrance.
Cemetery burial plots are typically permanent. If one moves away a great distance from a cemetery, it becomes difficult to regularly visit the burial site. Cemetery plots also require fees and upkeep, and have become increasingly expensive as land used for this purpose becomes more valuable. While it used to be common to maintain burial sites and tombstones on a home property, modern government regulations commonly restrict this practice, particularly because burial sites can become an encumbrance on property transfer or development.
Another drawback to the traditional burial is that tombstones are commonly formed of a stone material such as granite, which makes them heavy, time consuming to engrave, and costly to transport. Typically, these heavy tombstones are purchased locally as blanks, and then engraved with custom designs and inscriptions. It is impractical to ship or buy from a remote location due to the extreme weight and need for expensive dunnage to prevent damage during transport.
Conventional tombstones also can often take substantial periods of time to produce and install, as engraving often takes weeks or months to complete. Also, because of the substantial weight, many tombstones require a concrete foundation be poured before they can be placed at a memorial site. If a burial occurs in a cold or wet climate, several months may pass after the burial before the ground is suitable for pouring the concrete foundation, further delaying the installation of the tombstone.
A common alternative to burial is cremation, where the ashes of the deceased are stored in an urn. Although urns can also be costly, an urn can be stored in a home, is easily moved, and may be passed down to future generations. Typically, urns are small or compact and, even though they may be formed from marble and other heavy materials, they can still be easily shipped. However, while urns do have the benefit of mobility, they do not provide a family with the pride and prestige of a normal tombstone.
There is a continuing need for an apparatus that provides a prestigious memorial site for the deceased. Desirably, the apparatus is portable and allows for the easy transportation of the apparatus to different locations.